Sports Then and Now

If you’re an avid fan and bet on golf, you’ll know that Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy are currently joint-favorites to lift the Claret Jug, as the Open Championship is contested later this month, at Royal Portrush. The Open is the oldest of the four golfing majors, having been inaugurated in 1860 and this year marks the 147^th edition of the prestigious tournament. With such a rich history, there are undoubtedly hundreds of memorable and iconic moments from over the years. Here, we’ve listed some of our favourites, but do let us know in the comments if there’s anything we’ve missed!

1977: The Duel in the Sun

Golf fans of a certain generation will remember this one as Americans Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus battled it out in the Scottish sun at Turnberry. After the second round, both men had scored 138 (68 + 70) and found themselves T2.

Of course, they were paired together for round three and once again matched each other’s score of 65, to end the round three-under-par and edge away from the chasing pack. The pair played together again on the final day, as they duelled for the coveted Claret Jug. Watson famously said to Nicklaus: “This is what it’s all about, isn’t it?”, with the ‘Golden Bear’ responding: “You bet it is.”

Tom Watson celebrates his chip-in on the 17th hole during the 1982 U.S. Open

Though the U.S. Open has a history of turning previous unknowns into champions, when the best golfers in the World tee it up this week for the U.S. Open Championship at the storied Pebble Beach Golf Links, you can expect that the eventual winner will be a well-known superstar, rather than a previous unknown who came from nowhere to win the title.

This will mark the fifth time that the U.S. Open has been played at the famous Pebble Beach Course. The four previous champions represent a “who’s who” of all-time golf greats.

No golfer has won more major championships than Jack Nicklaus, who claimed his third U.S. Open the first time the tournament was played at Pebble Beach in 1972. Nicklaus finished with a three-stroke victory over Bruce Crampton and four strokes ahead of another all-time great Arnold Palmer.

When the championship returned to Pebble Beach a decade later, Nicklaus was aiming for his fifth U.S. Open title. A final round charge put him in contention, but Tom Watson swiped the title with a chip-in on the 17th hole of the final round to seal his only U.S. Open title and sixth of his eight major titles. Read the rest of this entry →

The consumate underdog, in just a matter of weeks the Sky Blue FC went from last place to WPS Champions.

It has been a year of mixed emotions for incurable fans of the underdog. On the downside are ultimate victories by ultimate bullies such as the Steelers and the Yankees. Atypically, March Madness produced no Cinderella stories. Perennial underdogs, the Cleveland Cavaliers choked on their best opportunity yet to win an NBA Championship, faltering in the Conference finals, with Orlando.

On the upside are the overlapping individual and team stories of Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals, the parallel stories of two soccer Cinderellas, and a Warner-like comeback in the golf world.

And now, for the countdown.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tom Watson

Evidently the only person at the British Open (referred to as the Open Championship in England) who doesn’t know that Tom Watson is nearly 60-years-old is Watson himself. Playing against a field of golfers in which many are half his age, Watson enters the final round of golf’s oldest championship with a one-stroke lead.

Now there was a time when Tom Watson leading after 54-holes of the British Open surprised no one. After all, the only player with more Open Championships than the American is Harry Vardon, who last won the title in 1916.

However, just in case you weren’t sure, this is 2009, not 1977 or 1983. Watson is no longer the young golfer who won his first major championship at age 25 and all eight of his major championships before turning 34.
Read the rest of this entry →